Looking good down under: Gastar reaps bigger pay from Australia asset sale.
Gastar gets cash boost
US gas-focused Gastar Exploration said it expects to reap another US$12.5 million the sale of its stake in PEL 238, a coal seam natural gas project in New South Wales, Australia.
Gastar sold the stake to a unit of Australian giant Santos as part of a package of Australian assets for $233 million.
This week, operator Eastern Star Gas upped its probable reserves estimate for the project beyond 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas, which triggered a clause in the contract that brought Gastar another AU$20 million.
The US company could get another US$10 million if certain production threshholds are met, Gastar said in a release.
"Proceeds from this upside payment for our former Australian assets will enhance our already strong liquidity position and will help enable us to execute our planned capital programs in the Marcellus Shale and in the East Texas Bossier play," Gastar boss J Russell Porter said in a release.